haiku

yapping coyotes
punctuate the still of night
December's bowl moon

   I was awake in the middle of the night last night.  I love when that happens because I can get up to write.  The house is still; the world is quiet.  But last night, as I was walking around in the dark to get to my studio, it was very bright outside.  I looked for the moon and I saw a big white bowl.  It might have been a very big smile.  What do you do when you can't sleep at night? Can you write a poem about that today?  Or try writing about what you see when you wake at night.  Have fun writing.

Meeting with friends is a fun way to write.  Find a friend to write with today.

HAIKU

coyotes howl
3 AM
still  4 AM


     Yesterday I used the title of my poem to set the topic of the poem.  Haiku do not have titles, so I had to use the first line to carry the topic.  Do these there lines carry a whole story for you?  I'm usually not in favor of poems with the ambiguity of word having two meanings, but I think I used that little word still to that advantage here.  The still can mean that the noise is going on still, or it can be like quiet and still. Is that good or misleading to you?  Does it get in the way of the meaning of the poem?  Would it have been better to put that word at the end of the line?  I could have put a coma or a caesura after still, but that seemed too heavy handed to me.  I did put two spaces there though to subtly draw some emphasis to the word.  These are the decisions poets get to make. Now, I could have just as easily have said, I was up all night with the coyotes' howl--but this haiku was more fun for me.  I hope it worked for you too as you participated with the poem.
    Now it is your turn to have fun playing with poetry.  Try your own haiku.  I have a friend, Lenard Moore, who once told me that one needs to write at least a thousand haiku before you get any good at it.  I don't think I've written a thousand yet, but I'm getting close.  Of course, he is the person whose goal is to have 50 poems out for submission at all times.  I'm a long way from that, but it is always nice to have friends who make you stretch.
  Have a happy Sunday writing.

COYOTES SING

Yips, yaps, howls
echo over the lake
Coyotes so noisy
they keep me awake.

It's 3 AM
the moon is bright.
Coyotes are chirping
and yapping tonight.

It's 4 AM
they are singing some more
I think I'd rather hear
coyotes snore.


     I didn't get a lot of sleep last night.  I think the coyotes were celebrating the weekend.  So here is a fun list poem to try--write a poem about the things that keep you awake at night.  Have fun.

    I'm not sure if I really need the three stanzas to tell this story.  I'm trying to condense the content to two stanzas.  But then again this poem may want to be a form poem that requires a repeating line like a triolet, or a villenelle.  Oh what fun.  I get to play with this some more. 

    I've already condensed the information into a haiku, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see that. 
    Thank you for reading my drafts of poems.  I really appreciate it. You do make poetry fun for me.

Song Dog, Canis latrans

The moon shines silver
in slivery light.
Saguaro shadows
are dark this night.

When out in the scrub
the wind whispers
a trilling refrain,
that echos
       and echos
            repeating again.

Yee, Yee, Yee,
Yip, yip, yip, yip,yip,yip.
Coyotes are tracking tonight.

Coyote Fib

One
Two
Running
Coyotes
Dash up a driveway
Leap fences, run along the wash.
Soon they will be gone
No longer
Can they
Roam
Free.

  You'll notice I'm using the content from yesterday's post to write this poem.  I'm playing with the FIB form today.  A FIB is a 6 line  poem based on the Fibonacci number.  Like a haiku, syllables are counted.  Each line is the sum of the two previous lines added together so that the lines have this many syllables 1/1/2/3/5/8. I didn't like ending on the 6th line so I then reversed the sequence.  8/5/3/2/1/1.  The funny thing is, I actually like this poem when I read it from the bottom up, too.

   Can you try writing your own FIB today?  And if you'd like, try writing the reverse, too.

    I don't normally review books on my blog, but I wanted to share a fun new picture book GUESS WHO'S IN THE DESERT, written by Charline Profiri with beautiful illustrations by Susan Swan.  Charline is in my children's poetry critique group and she has shared every step in her publishing process with our group.  The final product is a very, very beautiful book.  It is written in rhyming riddles and is lots of fun.  All my favorite desert critters are having a party in this book.

   If you leave a comment on today's post, on Sunday (2:00 PM MST)  I'll take all the names and throw them in my desert hiking hat.  I'll draw one name and send you my autographed copy of this book.  If you leave a FIB with your comment, I'll put your name in my hat twice.

  Thank you, Charline Profiri for this wonderful book, GUESS WHO'S IN THE DESERT.  I'm sure children will love your poetry and the desert.

  I believe Julie Larios is hosting the Friday Poetry Round Up today on her blog at http://julielarios.blogspot.com/   http://julielarios.blogspot.com/

Desert Abecedarian

Across the arroyo
Bouncing in the basin
Coyotes call
Down the dry, rocky wash--
Eerie echoes reach
Far into the
Gully-- yipping and yapping
Hanging on a breeze
In the chill desert air.
Jack rabbits and
Kangaroo rats jumping,
Leaping high
Making little
Noise in the night.
Only the bobcat
Pauses to
Quietly creep before
Racing after rabbit prey, then a
Scream pierces the still silence,
Talons caught
Under the fur , and a 
Vulture
Wings over the dark
Xeriscape.
Yellow eyes leave
Zilch, nada, nil behind.

    I've been having fun playing with abecedarians this week.  Can you try your own poem shaped around the alphabet?  Have fun playing with this form.

COYOTE CONVERSATION

Last night
I went outside
to look at the moon.

I saw Jupiter,
the closest it will be
to the moon for fifty years.

Stars, moon,and planets
I stood quietly watching
and then I heard
a conversation
between coyotes
yipping and yapping
singing to each other
across the canyon.


   What did you do last night?  Did you have a good dream?  Did you watch television or go outside to watch the stars?  Today can you write a poem about your evening?  Have fun.

Night Songs

The moon is full

shadows are long

I can hear coyotes

sing a yipping song.

From a hole

in the saguaro

way up high

I hear an elf owl

with a too-weet cry.

It is getting late

I should be abed

but I am listening

to night songs instead.

     What sounds/songs do you hear?  Can you write a poem about sounds?  Have a fun weekend.

haiku

coyotes yipping

desert winds erase all tracks

an elf owl calls--why

     I don't normally like to use a center margin with my poems.  It seems a little too easy.  But in this haiku I felt the need to use it to represent the centering, or pulling toward the center of all beings--we are all related.  Each thing we do has an effect upon all others.  I thought I could use the center margin to help show this. 

    This poem was fun because I had to do a little research.  We're having a bit of wind tonight, so the yipping voices of the coyote are carrying across the canyon.  I have been reading the GAURDIANS OF GA'HOOLE by Katherine Laski, and I knew I wanted to include an owl watching the coyotes from his burrow in a Saguaro. I had originally used the traditional owl sound who as the last word of this poem.  But when I looked the bird up in my PETERSON FIELD GUIDES, Western Birds, text and illustrations by Roger Tory Peterson; the listing for the elf owl, Micrathene whitneyi, says the voice is "A rapid, high pitched whi- whi-whi-whi...often becoming more yipping or 'puppy-like,'" (Wow, I didn't think I'd ever have use for that single quote followed by the double quote, but there it is.)  So then I knew I had the bird I had heard and the one I wanted in this poem and I had to change the who to the why which makes the poem so much richer in conveying the meaning I wanted with this poem.  Oh, this was fun.

   This poem includes the word "tracks" which is the challenge word for this month at children's poet David L. Harrison's blog.  So I will post this poem over there too.  If you write your own poem, Harrison has a monthly challenge for adults and two categories for children. The children poems are at http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/young-poets-word-of-the-month-poems/

and the adult poems are at http://davidlharrison.wordpress.com/adult-word-of-the-month-poem/

So here is the writing exercise for today,  write your own haiku, or a poem about "tracks."  Share your poem with me in the comments below or post it on Harrison's blog.
   Thank you for stopping by.

What did you see?

What did you see on your walk today?

Oh, what did you see, my dear?

I saw a dead snake in the road

so dead it was nothing to fear.

A Phainopepla sitting in a tree

and a cardinal singing to me.

I saw a hummingbird fine

sitting on a telephone line.

And there, too close, were two coyotes

who stood and just stared at me.

I mustn't forget the cotton tails

and the bobbing heads of desert quails.

Of course there was a cactus wren

who sat and called again and again.

This and that and so much more

were all out walking with me.

This is what I saw on my walk today, dear.

This is what I saw on my walk.

   It was a lovely day today and yes I had a great walk.  It is definitely getting close to Spring, there was a scorpion in the bathroom this morning that I had to get rid of before my shower.  Today's poem is a list poem.  It lists the things I saw on my morning walk.  Can you take a walk today and write your own list poem?  Don't worry about making it rhyme.  Add some details that tell what the thing on your list is doing. 
Please share your poem in the comments.  Have a great day.

Coyote Dreams

Coyotes pause in the river bed

to sing a song to the moon.

Their yip, yip, yip,

is a raucous tune.

The pack of coyotes

travels in the wash,

while bats fly by

and elf owls watch.

The javelinas look

for a tasty treat

to fill their

night time dining.

The night air cools

and the songs echo

making memories

of a desert night.

And as I nod to sleep

I hear those songs

rippling through

my dreams.

Good night coyotes.

Good night javelinas.

Good night elf owls and bats.

Good night to us all.

      This poem is a lullaby, because it is one that should be read just before going to sleep.  Can you try writing your own lullaby?  Have fun. 

Counting Coyotes

ONE coyote

walks over sandy ground.

TWO coyotes

pause to hear a sound.

THREE coyotes

lope in the dry river bed.

They're running off;

know what's ahead.

They're in a hurry

to get home 

to bed.

  Each morning, I walk two miles with my dog Spot.  For the first quarter mile, coming and going, I let him off lead because there is nothing around but desert.  This morning, on the way home,  Spot was off lead and quickly had to put him back on again when I saw three coyotes.  I didn't know if Spot might chase them trying to defend his territory, or if the coyotes might see Spot and decide he was a threat or dinner.  All of us got home safe, but it was an exciting and beautiful sight.  I hope your day is as blessed as mine is today.  What a gift.  

     Can you write a poem about a simple gift you have received?  Have fun.  You are amazing.

     Know  what?  I just looked at this poem and see that I have a concrete poem.  All I have to do is draw the head shape for a coyote with 2 ears and whiskers!  WOW!  Another gift.  It is going to be a great day!